1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for marking lines on a piece of sail cloth for cutting out sections thereof to make a sail. More particularly, this invention involves an improved mechanism for moving up and down the table on which the sail cloth is positioned.
2. The Prior Art
Large sails for sailing craft are fabricated by assembling a plurality of smaller panels. Such panels usually are of triangular configuration and of various sizes. The sail maker works with bolts of fabric, and a single panel may have a length of many yards. Therefore, there has been a need for a plotting device able to handle large rolls of cloth and apply pattern designs thereto extending over a substantial continuous distance. Heretofore, no efficient mechanism has been available for accomplishing such large scale pattern layouts.
Several large scale X-Y plotting tables have been proposed for the above purposes. However, most of these proposed plotting tables are deficient from a standpoint of accuracy, simplicity and speed of operation.
A patentability search was conducted on the present invention and the following U.S. patents were uncovered in this search:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee Date ______________________________________ 4,593,469 Shoup, II 6-10-86 3,850,043 Tarbox 11-26-74 4,328,726 Pearl 5-11-82 3,844,461 Robison et al. 10-29-74 3,473,157 C. H. Little et al 10-14-69 4,555,851 Levy 12-03-85 4,665,619 Pearl 5-19-87 3,744,891 Dennis et al. 7-10-73 4,270,404 Murakoshi et al. 6-02-81 ______________________________________
None of these above patents is deemed sufficiently close to the present invention to require any comment.